This request is for funds to purchase a Zeiss 510 meta confocal microscope. This instrument will be housed on the 10th floor of Salk Hall in the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. Basic and clinical research within the School of Pharmacy has grown tremendously over the past six years. During the past four years, the School of Pharmacy has been rated among the top 10 in NIH funding among all Schools of Pharmacy in the nation. Despite this success, the School is relatively equipment poor and is forced in many cases to rely on major equipment in other schools. Not only does this create difficulties for existing personnel, but also presents obstacles in recruiting highly qualified research faculty. The purpose of this request is to provide the School of Pharmacy with its own confocal instrument to meet the critical needs of its research faculty. Specifically, the School currently is in need of a four-laser, spectral, confocal microscope, equipped for live cell imaging. Six NIH-funded investigators within the School have identified a need for such equipment. Most of this work falls within the realm of new drug development (particularly the development of anti-cancer agents and gene therapy methodologies) and focuses on following the uptake and trafficking of molecules and drugs within cells and tissues. Currently, the School of Pharmacy has no confocal instrument. Instruments are available elsewhere within the University, primarily at the University's Center for Biologic Imaging (CBI). Unfortunately, CBI is not able to provide sufficient access to accommodate our needs. CBI resources are in very high demand, and School of Pharmacy personnel have the lowest priority with regard to access. For example, School of Pharmacy personnel have no access on evenings or weekends, and are limited to 3-hour time slots, when slots are available. Often School of Pharmacy personnel must wait 1-2 weeks before getting access to an instrument, and during the access time available are not able to analyze and collect all of their data. This lack of available instrument time is extremely frustrating and limits the pace of our research. Acquisition of the requested instrument will eliminate this problem, and will provide the School of Pharmacy with a greatly needed resource. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]